Bonfire of the Liberties

New Labour, Human Rights, and the Rule of Law

Keith Ewing

The first full-length, expert critique of New Labour's record on human rights, exposing the failings of our political and legal systems to protect people from the Government's intrusion on their civil liberties

Presents compelling narratives of the major human rights battles over the last decade - including the Control Order cases, the Belmarsh trial, the Jean Charles de Menezes affair and the G20 protests

Offers a provocative critique of the Human Rights Act and the record of the UK judiciary in upholding human rights

Bonfire of the Liberties

New Labour, Human Rights, and the Rule of Law

Keith Ewing

Description

This provocative book confronts the corrosion of civil liberties under successive New Labour governments since 1997. It argues that the last decade has seen a wholesale failure of constitutional principle and exposed the futility of depending on legal rights to restrict the power of executive government. It considers the steps necessary to prevent the continued decline of political standards, arguing that only through rebalancing political power can civil liberties be adequately protected.

Relying on extensive new research of inaccessible sources, the book examines the major battlegrounds over civil liberties under New Labour, including the growth and abuse of police power, state surveillance and counter-terrorist measures. It unfolds a compelling narrative of the major battles fought before Parliament and in the courts, and attacks the failure of the political and legal systems to offer protection to those suffering abuses of their civil liberty at the hands of an aggressive Executive. In doing so, it offers a definitive account of the struggle for civil liberty in modern Britain, and a controversial argument for the reforms necessary to contain executive power.

Bonfire of the Liberties

New Labour, Human Rights, and the Rule of Law

Keith Ewing

Table of Contents

Introduction 1: The Growth of Police Powers 2: Surveillance and the Right to Privacy 3: Freedom of Assembly and the Right of Public Protest 4: Free Speech and the National Security State 5: A Permanent Emergency and the Eclipse of Human Rights 6: From Detention - to Control Orders - to Rendition 7: Conclusion - Political Power not Legal Rights

Bonfire of the Liberties

New Labour, Human Rights, and the Rule of Law

Keith Ewing

Author Information

Keith Ewing, Professor of Public Law at King's College London.

Bonfire of the Liberties

New Labour, Human Rights, and the Rule of Law

Keith Ewing

Reviews and Awards

"Britain is undoubtedly a much better, informed and relaxed place to live than 13 years ago; one would really need to be a hidebound reactionary not to recognise this. On civil liberties, however Labour urgently needs to restore its credentials. It could make a start by having a long discussion with Professor Ewing and other critics about finding the right balance between liberties and effective protection against terrorism." - David Winnick, Tribune

"Keith Ewing has written an excellent and damning indictment of New Labour's record on human rights and the rule of law, marshalling his evidence with ease and great narrative power. It is a real tour de force." - James A. Grant, University of Oxford, The Modern Law Review

"It's very readable and something which all MPs ought to read, especially the new intake from 6th May 2010. Probably the single most important theme is the erosion of individual rights by the state and Ewing backs up each topical issue with breathless detail to justify the assertions made...a useful commentary on the parlous state of today's 'rights'" - Phillip Taylor MBE and Elizabeth Taylor, Richmond Green Chambers

"...As a handy catalogue of the duplicity and chicanery displayed by this administration it is excellent... the book's greatest achievement is to translate often dense legal argument into something slightly more palatable to the general reader..." - Paddy McGuffin, Morning Star

"The aims of this book appear to be twofold. First it provides a much needed documentation of the continuing 'erosion of civil liberties' (p.vii) that occurred under the previous Labour Government...Secondly, building upon this analysis, Professor Ewing aims to provide a politics-based solution to the deficiencies of the HRA. First and foremost, this book is about a contradiction...Professor Ewing powerfully demonstrates how empty the culture of liberty rhetoric has been, and shows that there has been a contradiction at the heart of Government." - Matthew Burton, Birmingham Law School, Human Rights Law Review 11:2